All's Well That Ends Well
by Erratta
Summary: First of the Spirit quintology. Mr. Lancer takes Danny's class to FentonWorks and falls into the Ghost Portal. When he wakes up, everything's changed and he has a lot of adjustments to make. REWRITTEN
1. Field Trip

_Hello everyone! There's a good explanation for this, really, there is... Okay, so this is basically a spiffed up version of the original AWTEW I posted back in April. My writing's improved a lot since then and I realized that there were a lot of things I didn't like about my first story. So I did it over. I've kept the basic storyline and most of the scenes and dialogue, but I've also added a couple scenes and reorganized the chapters. Hopefully it's a fresh experience for all my past readers, and an enjoyable read for everyone new... Thanks to everyone who faved, alerted, reviewed, and/or read the original work. You guys are awesome, and one of the main reasons I kept writing!_

All's Well That Ends Well 

**Chapter 1: Field Trip**

_I do not own Danny Phantom, Hamlet, The Da Vinci Code, or Ghost World. Well, actually, I have a copy of Hamlet at home, and my sister has a copy of The Da Vinci Code, but that doesn't really count, does it?_

"_Hamlet_!" The bald man screamed as he woke with a start, breathing heavily. His sheets had twisted around his body and his body was soaked with sweat. The man had dreamt that everyone he cared about, everyone who went to his school, were being held hostage by a giant gray man with flaming green hair and chunky armour. It had been his job to save them, and he hadn't been able to do anything. It had been horrible.

He rolled over, looked at the bust of Shakespeare resting on his night table, and groaned. It was four in the morning. He sat up, knowing that he wouldn't be getting any more sleep that night, and massaged his temples.

"I can't let that happen," he muttered. "I have a responsibility." He got out of bed and turned on his computer. Several minutes later, he was hard at work.

---

At seven o'clock that morning the phone rang in a large purple building across town. The fifteen-year-old boy living there was rudely awoken by a shout and a crash, followed by a surprising alert female voice.

"Hello? ... Mr. Lancer? Is this about Danny?"

---

"Gotta be on time. Gotta be on time." It was five minutes to eight and the boy, Danny, had his scooter at full speed. As a ghost-human hybrid (long story, don't ask), he'd been up late the night before fighting ghosts around the city. Already this morning, he'd been interrupted by a telephone, waited for the shower for far too long, avoided his flustered parents, and gotten the Box Ghost back into the Fenton Thermos. He was not having a good day, it was Monday, and now he was late for school.

Eight minutes later, Danny edged into class to Mr. Lancer's condescending glare. He smiled weakly, and slid as far down into his seat as possible.

"As I was saying before Mr. Fenton graced us with his presence," Lancer said dryly, barely missing a beat, "we are going on a field trip today. I have recently become aware that we residents of Amity Park are woefully ill-prepared for defending ourselves against the much too frequent ghost attacks. This is most important for our youth, who are the future of this town, and who are attacked most frequently at school, by ghosts such as Danny Phantom. I'm sorry, Ms. Sanchez, is there something you wish to share?"

The Hispanic brunette moved her head away from Star's desk and looked at the teacher with calculated innocence.

"Mr. Lancer, Danny Phantom is not evil. He is too cute to want to hurt people."

"Need I remind you that Danny Phantom possessed our mayor several months ago?" Lancer asked. "Looks are not a good indication of character."

The resident goth, Sam, leaned forward to her friend Tucker's desk. "Yeah, just look at Paulina."

The overweight teacher continued with his speech. "I believe that the first step in learning to defend ourselves is to learn about our enemies. I have researched the more prominent ghosts who haunt our town, and we will be reviewing them this morning. This afternoon, we will be visiting the most important building in Amity Park to continue our education. Now, if everyone will refrain from whispering and turn their attention to the projector screen, we will begin the lesson."

Once Lancer's attention was on the lecture rather than his students, Tucker Foley, an African-American boy in a red beret, turned around to look at his best friend, Danny Fenton.

"Dude, we're not going to your place, are we?"

"Yeah," Danny groaned. "Dad was going on this morning about how great it was that the school had realized we needed more education about ghosts, and trying to untangle the Fenton Fisher so he could show it off. Almost hit me with it three times. And I didn't get breakfast because Mom had covered the entire table in cookies."

Sam leaned over to join the conversation, with sarcastic optimism. "Well, at least we get cookies out of this."

"This is a disaster," moaned Danny. "My parents are going to show off all their gadgets and they're all going to point at me. Not to mention the huge embarrassment factor. And what if a ghost comes through the Portal while we're there? You know my dad can't hit the broad side of a barn if he's aiming at it."

"Relax, Danny," Sam said, patting his arm reassuringly. "We'll cover for you if we have to. And your mom can aim, so she can take care of the ghost. It won't be that bad."

---

After lunch, the class set out to walk to FentonWorks. Mr. Lancer had told them their destination before his standard "What To Do To Get Detention On This Field Trip" lecture. Valerie Gray, an amateur ghost hunter with a vendetta against Danny's ghost self, was anticipating seeing new weapons, and Paulina and her best friend Star were giggling, hoping that Danny Phantom would show up. Dash and Kwan, the stars of the football team, were talking about how they'd likely get to see "big guns, explosions, and general butt-kicking." The mood, like for all field trips, was festive and full of excitement.

It had grown cold and windy since the morning, and Mr. Lancer kept looking nervously at the sky. There was an electric charge in the air, and he was praying that the inevitable thunderstorm wouldn't hit Amity Park until they had at least gotten into FentonWorks. Alas, there was no such luck, as a flash of light and loud boom that caused the paunchy vice-principal to jump reflexively arrived at just that moment. Paulina screamed.

Then the sky opened up and the entire class was forced to run the remaining two blocks to Danny's house in the rain. Mr. Lancer pounded up the stairs and pushed a button shaped like Jack Fenton's head. It moaned eerily, and half a minute later a giant orange shape appeared in the doorway at the same time as another thunderclap hit overhead and Star shrieked.

"GHOST! GHOST! GHOST! Oh, Mr. Lancer, Danny's friends ... uh, sorry, such a klutz ... thanks son." Jack Fenton retrieved the Ghost Gabber from Danny, and luckily didn't hear the "Here Dad. I am a ghost. Fear me" over the downpour. The boy was mildly relieved when a smaller blue shape appeared in front of his father.

"Hello everyone," the woman said brightly. "Hello Danny! Come on in out of the rain, dears, and we'll begin the tour. Jack, go get the Fenton Blankets."

Maddie Fenton ushered everyone inside and provided them with gray blankets with Jack's face all over them. The blankets, amazingly for a Fenton product, dried everyone off quickly, and soon they were heading downstairs, lead by a very enthusiastic Jack, for the Fenton Tour, as he insisted on calling it. Everybody was dressed in orange Hazmat to protect themselves from any radiation or harmful substances, and casting funny glances at Danny, who wished he could go invisible and escape. Why did parents have to be so embarrassing?

---

Once everyone was grouped in a rough semi-circle in the middle of the lab, Jack Fenton began the talk energetically.

"All right, kids, the first thing to know about ghosts is that they're souls who can't really pass on because they have unfinished business. They come to our world to have their revenge. This is the Fenton Ghost Portal, which leads into the Ghost Zone, where ghosts normally live. Maddie made me close it to keep ghosts from invading the lab while you're here."

"Mr. Fenton," Valerie asked innocently, "can you open it just for a second? Please? So we can see what it looks like?" She was hoping to get the access code, so she could go inside and do some serious damage to the ghost population. Jack looked uncomfortable and conflicted for a moment before speaking with muted pride.

"Well, I suppose, just for a second. I'll just scan my thumbprint on the Fenton Genetic Lock and..." Valerie deflated. "... there we go!" A whirling, glowing green circle was revealed as the barriers slid back. The class gasped and Lancer got a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Seasickness from looking at the swirls, no doubt.

The storm outside howled and the lights in the lab flickered. There was another boom directly above them, and the power went out. The lab and the Ghost Portal became a single yawning darkness. There was a moment of silence, and then everyone started panicking at once.

"Help!" "Where am I?" "Where are the stairs?" "_Da Vinci Code_!" "Eeeew! What did I just put my hand in?" "Ouch, Dash, that was my _foot_!"

Maddie Fenton, ever the professional, took charge quickly and grabbed a Fenton Flashlight from her belt. "Everyone upstairs! It's too dangerous down here in the dark. Follow me. I've made cookies, and I suppose we'll just eat them now rather than later."

At the mention of Danny's mother's cookies, the entire class stampeded upstairs, Danny, Tucker, and Sam included. In the turmoil, Mr. Lancer was pushed to the back of the crowd. He lost his footing and stumbled backwards, landing hard on his back with a jarring smack. He lay there for a moment, trying to calculate how much aspirin he would need to take that night, then suddenly there was a blinding flash of green light and a stab of ice-hot pain.

"_Ghost World_!" Lancer curled into the fetal position in preparation for the ghost attack he was sure was coming. After nothing further happened, he turned around cautiously, feeling eerily chilled, and saw the lab in front of him. He managed to drag himself painfully onto the concrete before he passed out.

---

Lancer woke up several minutes later on the couch in the Fenton's living room. Two Dannys swam back and forth in front of his eyes.

"Wha-what happened?" the teacher asked groggily, squinting upwards.

"You must have hit your head in the blackout," Danny said matter-of-factly. "We found you in the lab unconscious when the generator kicked in."

Jack Fenton pounded up the stairs then, looking as boisterous as always. "Everything's all right, kids! The Ghost Portal's closed again, so we can go back to our tour."

_The Portal!_ exclaimed Lancer mentally._ I must have been inside it when the power came back on. That would explain the light, and why the lab seemed so big. But why the pain? Whatever that was, it wasn't electrocution, I'm fairly sure of that._

He tried to struggle up to join his class, who were now moving back downstairs for the rest of the Fenton Tour, but met with a firm but gentle resistance. He looked up. It was Danny's mother.

"You need to rest," she said warmly. "Too much strain after a fall like that could do a lot of harm. You might have a concussion. Your students will be perfectly safe in Jack's hands."

Lancer smirked inwardly. _Can anyone really be safe in Jack's hands? The man's a klutz, he even admits it._

He did stay on the sofa, though, and allowed Maddie to fetch him tea and cookies.

_Funny, _he thought, _if I hit my head, why doesn't it hurt now? And if I didn't hit it, what _did _happen down there?_ He pushed his worries to the back of his mind, reminding himself that the Fentons wouldn't have anything really dangerous in the lab when two children were in the house.

Maddie stayed with him until the tour was over, chatting gaily about Danny's and Jazz's childhoods. Lancer half-listened to her, interested in understanding more about the enigma that was Danny, but also preoccupied with wondering how the tour was going (there was shouting and laughter coming from downstairs, so nothing very bad could be happening) and, no matter how he tried to stop it, a nagging worry about the accident downstairs.

Eventually the tour was over and he was able to take his students back to the school. They were laughing and joking on the way back, but there was a slight air of sobriety, as the teenagers were worried about their teacher. The quietest student was Danny, surprisingly. He was always chatting to his friends at school, especially during class time, but now he was lost in thought and kept giving Lancer concerned looks. It was making him slightly uncomfortable, but it did feel good to know that Danny, even if he showed little respect at school, was attached to his teacher.

---

The events of the day had worn him out and Mr. Lancer felt more exhausted than normal. Once he'd finished marking the essays he was going to return to his students the next day, he changed into his pajamas and fell asleep almost instantly, barely making it into his bed first.


	2. Humiliation

_Thanks to Pterodactyl, iluvlucy7, Darth Frodo, The Sorceress of Light, Natwolfess, and Coronadofwb, who reviewed on dA._

**Chapter 2: Humiliation**

_I do not own Danny Phantom, The Clan of the Cave Bear, David Copperfield, The Wind in the Willows_, _or The Phantom Tollbooth. People who write much better than I do own them instead. I also don't own W.W.I. or the Battle of the Somme, in case anyone was wondering._

William Lancer awoke stiff and sore. The accident at FentonWorks yesterday had not done his body any good. He would need a strong cup of coffee too, as he was still incredibly tired and cold, and would need the energy to keep his unruly classes in hand. He collected his marking from the night before, made his coffee and lunch, and got into his car to drive to Casper High.

As usual, he was at school long before his students, and used the time to play a few levels of _Doomed_. Something was off about the keyboard this morning, because it wouldn't register his keystrokes half the time, and his mouse kept sticking too. Lancer made a mental note to talk to the technology department later to replace the equipment.

Soon Lancer heard the happy chatter of students in the hallway and the banging of lockers. He smiled contentedly to himself. The day was going as it should, and after yesterday's excitement he needed a normal day.

First period, he taught history to the senior class. They were currently studying the First World War, so he had prepared a powerpoint presentation showing pictures of the battles and their aftermath. During the Battle of the Somme, the class troublemaker started blowing spitballs at the main candidate for prom queen, and he lost his concentration for a moment. The laser pointer he was using fell onto the floor, and he could have sworn it actually went _through_ his hand. It certainly was an odd sensation, whatever had happened. The class laughed, as was only to be expected, but he got his concentration back and the rest of the lecture went without a hitch.

The second class Lancer taught that day was Danny's English class. After the bell rang, he picked up the stack of recently graded essays, tripped, and spilled them all over the floor. Well, not so much tripped, perhaps, as actually felt a foot go through the floor. Odd. After some difficulty picking them up again (he didn't seem to be able to get a grip on them), he continued handing them back. As he got closer to Danny's desk, he inexplicably shivered. Just a draft from the open window, probably.

"You okay, Mr. Lancer?" Danny's eyes were wide with concern and worry.

"Yes, Mr. Fenton, I am 'okay'. Someone must have walked over my grave, that's all. You got a D. _Clan of the Cave Bear_!" He had "tripped" again.

After talking a little about what the class should have done for the essay, Lancer set the class to silent reading to calm his nerves and started reviewing his notes for the next class. After about five minutes he fell through his chair.

"_David Copperfield_!"

The class laughed. This was much more fun than the normal class. Lancer was definitely not his normal poised self today. Of course, they became dead silent and buried their faces in their books the moment his bald head rose above the desk. No way were they getting detention over this!

After shivering, tripping, and dropping things periodically throughout the class, the lunch bell mercifully rang. The students lingered for a moment, hoping that Lancer would have another clumsy moment, and then left for the cafeteria. The balding man sank blissfully, but carefully, down onto his chair. What on earth was going on? He'd certainly have to be more careful about everything after the lunch break.

Lancer leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, the ceiling was a lot closer than he'd like it to be. It was about a foot above him, and he was staring straight at it.

"_Wind in the Willows_!"

The shock had caused him to crash back down again. The force of the landing caused the chair to spin away from the desk, him on it, and hit the far wall of the classroom. Lancer picked himself off the floor groggily and pulled the chair back to the desk. That was one more thing he'd have to watch out for, obviously. He gingerly sat down again and pulled out his lunch. Then he fell through the floor.

"_Phantom Tollbooth_!"

---

Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Tucker was actually glowing about Lancer's class.

"Hey, did you see the way he just fell off his chair like that? And how he couldn't hold a piece of chalk for more than a minute?"

"Yeah," said Sam, "I wonder what's wrong. He seems nervous about something."

"But it was funny! Wasn't it, Danny? Danny? Earth to Danny?" Tucker waved his hand in front of his friend's face. Danny blinked.

"What? Oh, hey Tuck. What was the question?"

"Tucker wants to know whether Lancer's behaviour today was funny." Sam's tone of voice managed to convey the hint that "no, it absolutely was not funny, Mr. Lancer should be shown compassion."

"I'm with Sam on this one, Tuck. Remember what I was like when I first got my powers? I think he might be going through the same thing." Tucker blinked, as did Sam.

"You think _Lancer_ has ghost powers?" Tucker asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Look, we found him just outside the Ghost Portal, right? It would have suddenly turned on when the emergency generator kicked in, and if he'd been in it he'd have had a sudden shock, like I did. And I swear today he was phasing through the floor, and I'm pretty sure he had a ghost sense too. I know I did."

Sam handed a twenty to the server, muttering, "Your ghost sense went off and you didn't leave?"

"It feels different for halfas than real ghosts. I can't explain how. And this was definitely a halfa one."

"Okay. So Lancer's a halfa. Well, hopefully Skulker won't want to hunt you now you're not as unique." Sam took her tray and led the way to a table by the window. The conversation continued once they'd sat down.

"Well, I think maybe I should tell him about myself. Y'know, he's a good guy and doesn't deserve to go through this alone. He needs help."

"Yeah, Danny, and it totally _wouldn't_ help your grades any, would it?"

"He needs help, Sam."

"Danny, it's not safe. This is _Lancer_ we're talking about. He thinks you're the bad guy, like the rest of the town. And he doesn't even like Danny _Fenton_ much. Let him work it out alone."

"But I still..."

"NO!" This came from both Tucker and Sam. Before Danny could argue, his _real ghost _ghost sense went off and he ran to the bathroom.


	3. Discovery

_Thanks to Pterodactyl, Snickerer, TheLegendaryManHimself, Coronadofwb, and wfea._

**Chapter 3: Discovery**

_I do not own Danny Phantom, because if I did there would probably be a lot of crossovers with sci-fi shows. I also don't own The Day of the Jackal_, _The Little Prince_, _The Taming of the Shrew_, _Great Expectations, Hitchhiker's Guide, or Ghost World_.

When Mr. Lancer got home that night, he was scraped, shaken, and badly bruised. He was also more exhausted than usual, and at a loss as to what was going on. He drifted off on the couch watching the six o'clock news over dinner, and woke up somewhat refreshed an hour or so later.

Lancer sat up and groaned, cradling his head in his hands. Whatever had happened today, whatever had been going on, it was completely unexplainable. His body had started doing things without his mind's consent, and as far as he knew, they'd been things human bodies shouldn't be doing. Lancer didn't want to go through another day like that. He'd lost a lot of his students' respect, and it would take work to regain it. To do that, he needed to regain control of his body.

_Maybe if I concentrate on doing the sorts of things that had happened today_, he mused,_ I can at least duplicate them to figure out what's happening_.

Lancer held out his right hand and thought about how it had gone through the desk during third period. His hand felt like it had plunged into ice water. He gasped and stared at it in shock. The hand had gone translucent, and when he went to touch the arm of the sofa, he went straight through. The sofa felt like fine gauze on his skin. He concentrated again, and his hand went back to normal.

Half an hour later, Lancer had discovered that he could make any part of his body, and his entire body, intangible the same way, and could move through any size of object and any material. He could even walk through walls! This certainly explained most of the mishaps of the day, including how he had found himself in the subbasement after falling through the floor at lunchtime (_mental note: ask cooking staff about meat_). He thought back again to the events of the day. There had been that incident with the ceiling after second period. Could he _fly_?

An hour later, he knew the answer was yes, he could. And he could float and fly while intangible too. The next few hours yielded the knowledge that he could also become invisible at will, and shoot blue streams of energy from his hands. He flew back to the couch and sat down. All this was sounding awfully familiar. This was the sort of things the ghost boy, Danny Phantom, could do. But he wasn't a ghost like Phantom, because he'd never died. Could he have gotten these powers somehow while still alive? Some near-death experience? That accident with the Portal yesterday, maybe?

Okay, so if he was a sort-of ghost, shouldn't he be able to look it? It would definitely be easier to practice his powers if he had the alibi of his ghost-half. No one would look twice at a ghost doing ghostly things. But how did he go about looking ghostlike? He concentrated on it. Nothing. He tried harder. Still nothing. Maybe he needed some sort of starter code, something to say to trigger the transformation. Wait a minute, hadn't he yelled something when the Portal turned on again? What was it, now?

"_The Day of the Jackal_!" "_The Little Prince_!"

Nothing.

"_Taming of the Shrew_!" "_Great Expectations_!"

Still nothing. This was going to take forever.

Lancer slumped. "_Ghost World_, what do I have to do to transform?!"

Suddenly, he felt the ice-water sensation again, more intensely. It started at his waist and moved smoothly towards both ends of his body. He looked down, and saw two rings of white light. Something was happening between them. When the sensation ended and the rings had disappeared, he realized that he was wearing a blue jumpsuit, the mirror image of the Hazmat suit he had worn at the Fentons' yesterday. He also had white gloves and boots. And he was very cold.

_This get-up probably looks quite dashing, _thought Lancer, drifting over to his bedroom and the full-length mirror. As he hovered in front of it, he was able to take in the rest of his ghost-self's appearance. His skin had turned ivory white, and what has left of his hair was a pale cream. His eyes were a vibrant neon blue and the irises had expanded to fill most of his sockets. His nose had grown a little longer, and more pointed, as had his ears. He glowed softly.

Lancer raised his eyebrows in mild interest and amusement, and his face tugged into a smile briefly before fading back into a worried frown. _Well, I certainly look like a ghost, so no one should recognize me. I can't imagine the consequences if anyone finds out. I'll lose my job, have to leave town, and will probably be hunted for research for the rest of my life. Half-life. And it probably gets even better than that, too. _

Lancer chuckled and noted that his laugh sounded somewhat hollow and distant. _And the trigger is _Ghost World_. How ironic. Now how do I turn back? I can't have said anything in the lab, so it's probably just a will thing again._

Lancer concentrated, and sure enough the suit and tie of the day reappeared and his feet met the floor. He glanced at his bedside table. Shakespeare told him it was one in the morning. He sighed, knowing he'd be too preoccupied to sleep much that night, but went through the motions and soon lay down in bed, trying to put his new abilities out of his mind. His fragmented dreams were of Danny Phantom and the Fentons.

---

Lancer arrived at school the next day bleary eyed. As he had predicted, he hadn't had a good night's sleep, and had spent a long time lying awake thinking about his newfound abilities. It was amazing how quickly a life could change. The Fentons were lucky none of their family had had a similar accident. Lancer tried to imagine Danny as part-ghost, and shuddered. He could just picture a ghost Danny destroying whole buildings with his clumsiness, instead of the single rooms he managed now.

As he walked into the school, Lancer felt very glad that he'd gotten his powers basically under control the previous night and wouldn't have to worry about them acting up in class like they had yesterday. Everything went smoothly until lunchtime, when his quiet lunch was disturbed by screams from the cafeteria. He shivered, dashed out of the staff room, and burst through the doors of the lunchroom.

"_Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_! What is going on in here?" he roared. Then he froze in fear.

There was a giant lumpy mass of, was that _vegetables_? in the center of the cafeteria. As Lancer stood in panic with students running past him into the hallway, he saw a black and white shape zoom in through an open window.

_I should know this ghost_, thought Lancer, _lots of food, cafeteria, from a B-movie... the Lunch Lady! And that other ghost is Danny Phantom, of course. That was fast. The attack only started a minute ago. He must have been nearby, or in on it._

"Oh, no, you don't!" The ghost boy yelled as he shot green rays at the creature in quick succession. It pelted him with carrots, but the boy simply turned intangible and the carrots bounced off the wall behind him. The kid had quick reflexes, Lancer would give him that. Then he watched in horror as the vegetable monster grabbed a distracted Phantom, who had just noticed Lancer's presence, and started to squeeze.

"EAT YOUR VEGETABLES! They're good for you. Cookie?" Phantom grimaced and shot a frightened look at Lancer.

"You, in the doorway!" he yelled. "Get out of here! Now! Ugh."

The Lunch Lady had tightened her grip again. The boy was in trouble, and even though he wasn't a student, Lancer felt obligated to help him. His powers had to be good for something.

Lancer turned and ran, looking for a safe place to transform. He reached a janitor's closest, ducked inside, and shut the door.

"_Ghost World_!"

He felt the change occur, then turned and soared down the hall back into the cafeteria. The moment he was inside he aimed a beam of energy at the mass of vegetables. It found its mark, and enough lettuce for twenty salads fell onto the floor, steaming slightly. The monster turned its whole attention to him, and Lancer noticed that the ghost boy was no longer in its hand. Before he had time to register where Phantom was, a hand made completely out of pickles and coleslaw smashed him against the glass covers of the warming trays. He groaned and slid to the floor, confused. Why was the ghost boy _attacking_ the Lunch Lady? If he was evil, shouldn't he be helping her?

Well, what really mattered was that he help the kid. Lancer grabbed onto the metal railings that held the trays in front of the serving counter, and pulled himself upright. When he turned around, ready to fight again, Danny Phantom was there, blasting the monster again. Suddenly a deep pink ball of light came at them from the left.

"You're surrounded, ghost boy. Surrender!"

Phantom sagged. This clearly was not going well. Another blast of light, and this time Lancer saw a girl in a red costume running towards them from the direction of the cafeteria doors, gun raised. Phantom raised his arms above his head and brought them down in a smooth, quick motion that produced an ectoplasm dome around him and Lancer. The blast the girl had just fired bounced off and hit the vegetables in the stomach, as did the three subsequent blasts.

_I'm going to have to learn that trick_, thought Lancer admiringly.

Before the girl could fire another round for another round, the ghost boy brought his hands together in front of him, and fired a massive beam at her, catching her shoulder and knocking her to the ground. She rolled under a table and lay there motionless, stunned. The suit and weapons disappeared, leaving a young, chocolate-skinned girl. Lancer blinked.

_Valerie Gray is the Red Hunter? How did she ge-...? I hope Phantom didn't hurt her too badly._

Lancer's eyes took in the full scene again and he realized he was being more of a liability than an asset. As the Lunch Lady was roaring from the pain of the blasts, he aimed rays from both hands at her knees. She toppled over, and the mass of vegetables lost their shape. A green woman wearing an apron and a hair net rose out of the heap, and cackled.

"So, you've found a friend, have you, ghost boy?"

"Yeah, and don't you forget it!" Phantom produced a Thermos and opened it quickly. A beam of blue-white light shot out and the boy trained it on the ghost in front of them, sucking her inside. Once the cap was back on, the boy turned around and helped Lancer to his feet sympathetically.

"You okay?" Phantom asked him. Lancer nodded and tried to look nonchalant. It mustn't have worked, though, because Phantom continued speaking. "Don't worry, it's toughest the first time. You were pretty good though. And thanks for the help."

The boy flew out the window, and Lancer took the opportunity to change back to human. His back was killing him, and he slumped against the warming trays. There was a bang to his left, and Lancer jumped. Principal Ishiyama and a few other teachers were standing in shock, just as he had a few minutes ago.

"Ghost attack," he wheezed, trying to make himself look like a victim. "Gone now."

He collapsed, and tried to look groggy as he was carried to the first aid room. He managed to convince everyone that he was well enough to teach Danny's English class that afternoon, but shivered as he passed Danny and his friends in the hall on his way to class.

"Loitering, Mr. Fenton?"

"No sir. I'm on my way."

Danny looked pretty beat up. He had probably been in the cafeteria when the attack started. Well, Lancer knew a little how that felt. He'd be a little easier on Danny this class, but not enough that he'd learn that "ghost attack" was an acceptable excuse.

As he walked away, he thought he heard Tucker ask, "Are you _sure_?"

---

"Are you _sure_?"

"Yes!" Danny exclaimed impatiently. "I was fighting the Lunch Lady, and he just flew through the door and started fighting her too. You know, she's gone on a whole vegetable craze this time. Tried to kill me with carrots."

"Well, at least she's going in for alternate diets now," Sam, an Ultra-Recyclo-Vegetarian, said. "How'd you know it was him?"

"C'mon. He had a goatee and a belly!"

"Does he know who you are?" Tucker asked, worried.

"I don't think so. I didn't tell him, if that's what you mean. He didn't mention anything. And just so you guys know, you didn't keep Valerie away very well. I had to fight off her and the Lunch Lady, and keep Lancer from getting too hurt."

"Well, if someone hadn't come up with the brilliant idea of _kissing her_..." Sam glared at Tucker, who feigned innocence.

"I thought that would work."

"Right." Sam opened the door of the classroom, and they made it to their seats just as the bell rang.

---

Later that evening, once he'd gotten everything done that needed doing around his place and had graded the latest assignments, Lancer felt himself at a loss for something to do. With everything that had happened over the last few days, he was too preoccupied to read or even to watch television and there wasn't much else that his apartment could offer him. His model train seemed too immature, as did the game of _Doomed_ that he'd saved last weekend. Listless, Lancer found himself staring out his living room window, looking out at the hazy glow of downtown playing on the September clouds and thinking about the day.

_It felt oddly good fighting today, even though I could be in a little less pain at the moment. I can finally protect the school like I want to with these powers._ He sighed longingly. _The view must be wonderful from up there. I wish I could... Wait a moment, I _can... _and maybe I could get some more practice in afterwards. Heaven knows I need it. I was very raw today._

Lancer turned and walked out of sight of the windows, then said his "catch phrase" quietly and transformed. He lifted himself higher off the floor than he was floating naturally, turned himself invisible, then flew back through the living room, through the wall, and up to the top of the apartment block to plan a flight path. Then he launched himself off the edge of the building and flew downtown, trying to push himself to a top speed.

Lancer tired of simply flying around after about half an hour and decided to head to the wooded island in Amity Lake for some isolated practice before he grew too tired. He landed in a clearing, scanned the area with eyes that had surprisingly good night vision, and relaxed his guard, becoming visible again. He thought for a moment then concentrated on becoming intangible.

Once he felt the power take hold, he began walking through the trees around the clearing, and then started running, which winded him quickly. He was forced to stop and catch his breath, at which point it hit him that even as a ghost he needed air. Lancer let out a short laugh at the thought.

_I'm probably the only ghost who needs to breathe to survive. Makes you wonder how all the others manage._

It was obvious to Lancer that he was too out of shape to do much more physical activity, so he set himself to experimenting with the blasts of energy from his hands. He learned that he could control the strength of the ray, to a degree, and that he was able to shift the beam from his palms to any given finger. Then a chill autumn breeze picked up and Lancer looked up at the sky, where the moon indicated that it was close to midnight. Sighing, he rose up into the air again and flew home, regretting that he hadn't had time that night to learn any of Phantom's tricks, even though he'd gotten the energy rays well under control.

_Maybe I should track down Danny Phantom this weekend. He looked like he was on my side, and he certainly knows how to use his powers well. I could learn a lot from him, if he'd teach me._

Please review! Reviewers get cookies! (And not from the Lunch Lady.) 


	4. Routine

Sasia93, Snickerer, Danny-Phantoms-Future-Wife, Lady Jarine, Soul Eater, Sunshine Silverjojo, dragon-game, and Coronadofwb all get cookies.

**Chapter 4: Routine**

_**I do not own Danny Phanto**m, Ghost World, Lyrical Ballads, or Rime of the Ancient Mariner._

The next night, Thursday, Lancer stayed late at Casper High preparing for his Friday classes. As he finally shut off his computer, he glanced at the clock above the door of his office. Eight o'clock. Lancer shook his head in exasperation as he slung his coat over his shoulders. He'd missed dinner because of working too late, again.

As he was setting his fedora on his head, he shivered despite the warmth of the room and saw an inexplicable plume of ectoplasm-tainted breath leave his mouth. His eyes narrowed in confusion, and then the ground shook, a sure sign of a ghost in the vicinity. Judging by the strength of the vibrations, this one was probably in the school itself.

Lancer looked longingly at his briefcase, then carefully placed his hat on top of it and muttered, "_Ghost World_." He had the power to fight ghosts himself, after all, and there was no knowing where Phantom might be at this hour, if the ghost was actually fighting on the side of the humans as Lancer now suspected. His rings slid over his body bringing up the familiar cold sensation and the moment he felt the transformation end, he started off in search of the ghost.

He found it about two minutes later in the science lab and hovered over it for a moment trying to figure out the best way to take it down. As far as he could tell, the ghost was a purple caricature of a frog. It stood about five feet at the shoulder, and its hind legs were as thick as Lancer's body. The frog's eyes swirled an iridescent green and a sheen of ectoplasmic slime covered its skin. He didn't even want to think what the thing's tongue looked like.

_Well_, thought Lancer, _it can't be any worse than the Lunch Lady. Here goes nothing. _He fired a ray at the frog, then shot around to its other side as it turned to find the source of the irritation. Lancer fired another blast, and moved out of the way again. He repeated the sequence, but this time the frog didn't turn its body. Instead it sat there for a moment and blinked at Lancer, hovering above it, then suddenly flicked out a massive length of tongue and caught the teacher around the waist.

Lancer let out a startled cry and hit the tongue with a bolt of energy reflexively, but unfortunately it just caused the frog to tighten its hold on him and Lancer was drawn towards the ghost's mouth gasping for air. He managed to hit it between the eyes with another blast and the frog reeled, smashed Lancer through a row of beakers laid out on a counter and slammed him against a wall. Lancer tugged frantically at the tongue, but it wouldn't loosen, and suddenly he was moving towards the open mouth again.

Just as he'd given up hope of ever getting out of this mess, a ball of green ectoplasm hit the frog in the back of the head, and it dropped Lancer, who scrambled away hurriedly and pulled himself up by grasping the counter with both hands.

"You okay?" Phantom yelled as he ducked down under the frog's chin and delivered a swift uppercut.

"Bit bruised!" Lancer called back as the frog sailed past him and broke the glass of the chemical cabinet. Phantom quickly pulled his Thermos off his back and sucked the dazed ghost frog into it. Then he somewhat shyly approached Lancer, white hair hanging messily in his eyes. The ghost looked so much like the students he dealt with that Lancer laughed despite himself. Phantom quirked an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked, accusatorially and slightly offended. Lancer quickly put on a straight face again.

"Nothing. You just reminded me of something, that's all."

Phantom nodded. "Mmm. Well, if it helps any, ghosts heal quickly. Those bruises'll be gone in a couple hours."

"That fast?" It made a kind of sense that injuries wouldn't last as long if you were dead. Lancer had never really thought about it (never had the need to, really). Would the same thing hold if you were somehow only _half_-dead? He supposed he'd find out soon enough.

Phantom nodded and rose a little in the air. "Look, um, I should be getting back on patrol. Do you want to come with me, learn the ropes? I mean, you seem to want to help with the ghost fighting stuff..." He was starting to look very uncomfortable.

"Of course!" Lancer jumped at the invitation, forgetting about his need to go home and eat something. He joined Phantom in the air, grinning, and they flew out through the ceiling. He followed the younger-looking ghost for a moment in silence, then drew level with him.

"Do you patrol every night, then?"

"Yeah. Sometimes a couple times. How come you were at the school?"

"Umm," Lancer answered, stalling for time to come up with an answer that wouldn't betray his identity. He wasn't sure he could trust Phantom completely yet. "I was in the area, sensed a ghost, and went for it. I probably shouldn't have, though. I wasn't very good."

"Neither was I when I started," Phantom said encouragingly. "I almost lost to the Lunch Lady. If it wasn't for dumb luck, I would have."

"Really?" _I suppose in hindsight I can see that. It was the first time anyone saw him, after all. _Lancer shifted topic as they flew on past the town hall. He needed to know exactly what he was getting himself into. "So how many ghosts are there in the average week?"

"Usually about four or five," the boy answered. "Most of them are animals, though. It's the human ones that you've got to watch for. They're harder to get rid of, and they keep coming back."

"Good to know," Lancer said gratefully, filing the information away. _Interesting how we only ever really see the humanoid ghosts. Phantom must be doing a pretty good job of dealing with them._

They completed the rest of the fly-by of the city in silence, then came to a stop above Casper High again. Lancer looked at Phantom curiously.

"The patrol's done," Phantom explained. "I think we're safe for the night. I, I guess I'll see you around then?"

"I suppose so," Lancer answered, and Phantom took off in the direction of one of the subdivisions. He descended back into his office and changed back to human almost reluctantly. Still, he picked up his fedora and his briefcase and left the school, feeling a little let down. His first major meeting with Phantom had been spent in near silence. He did seem to appreciate the company on patrol, though, and willing to support Lancer with his fighting.

Lancer climbed into his car and clipped on his seat belt, then realized that his abdomen was barely hurting at all anymore. The healing abilities must indeed work for half-ghosts too. It was a comforting thought, since it meant he wouldn't have as many obvious injuries to cover up at a human.

He placed his key in the ignition, started the car, and drove home. He should probably make an early night of it, considering that he'd been out late the night before and been pretty active that day.

---

Lancer arrived at school the next morning feeling rested but more than ready for the workweek to be over. He entered the school office humming a tune that stopped in his throat at the sight of a worried conversation between Principal Ishiyama and Steve Falooka, the head of the science department.

"Oh, good, William, you're here," Ishiyama asked, turning to him.

"What's going on?" Lancer asked, despite being fairly certain what this was about.

"The science lab was trashed last night," Falooka told him. "You often stay late. You didn't happen to catch the culprit, did you?"

"What? No. It must have happened after I left." Lancer swallowed. Half the damage was his fault. "How bad is it?"

"All replaceable, thank goodness," the principal said, "but we'll have to cancel labs for the next week or so. There was a chemical spill and it ate a hole through the floor. Are you sure you have no idea, William?"

"I heard and saw nothing," Lancer answered. "Perhaps it was a ghost?"

"Phantom!" Falooka declared. "He's a troublemaker, that one is. Doesn't care what he does to things. I hope the Fentons catch him soon." Lancer paled slightly. Granted, a bit of the damage _was_ Phantom's fault, but Lancer didn't feel he deserved a bad rap for it. And to have the Fentons catch the boy, or Lancer himself...

"Maybe it wasn't Phantom?" he suggested. "I mean, he's not the only ghost in town. It could have been any of them."

Falooka sputtered. "Of course it was Phantom! He's the only ghost we consistently see at Casper!" He grabbed the stack of mail he'd come in for and stalked out. Lancer began to make his way towards his office, unaware that the Asian principal was following him.

"Since when have you been on Phantom's side, William? Didn't you just tell your English class how dangerous he was?"

Lancer jumped and dropped his hat, which he'd been about to hang beside the door. "_Lyrical Ballads_! Sorry, Beth. And I wasn't necessarily saying Phantom was _good_ right now, just that we shouldn't be jumping to conclusions."

"All right." Beth Ishiyama didn't sound like she completely believed him as she turned to leave the doorway. "Don't forget about the meeting at lunch."

"I won't." Lancer finished pulling off his coat and turned to his desk, where he flicked open his briefcase and took out the history papers he'd graded. He just hoped that a ghost wouldn't attack during school today. He couldn't just run off in the middle of class, unlike some of his students.

---

Mercifully, there wasn't a ghost attack until that afternoon, when he was presiding over detention. Danny Fenton had made it into the room for the third time that week, due to something involving several pieces of bubble gum, a badly drawn caricature of Dash Baxter as a caveman, and bad timing. In his twenty-five years of teaching, Lancer had never seen a boy with such a talent for trouble as Danny.

The vice-principal was reading behind his desk and keeping a periodic eye on the only student in the room to make sure he was actually doing his homework rather than doodling or staring out the window. Suddenly Lancer shivered and let out that strange plume of breath again.

_Oh great, another ghost. This is ridiculous_. Then he noticed that Danny had stiffened as well, and froze. Rime of the Ancient Mariner_! He didn't just see that, did he? Well, doesn't matter, I've got to deal with this anyway._

Lancer cleared his throat and stood up. "Mr. Fenton? I just remembered I forgot some marking in my office. I'll be right back." _Great, William. Now you're lying to your students..._ Danny nodded, and Lancer left, walking a short ways down the hallway before transforming and flying quickly up onto the roof to see what was going on. He spotted two figures in the parking lot and quickly went invisible before they spotted him. Since they were the only unfamiliar things in the area he went down for a closer look.

A dirty blond boy of in his early twenties was straddling a large motorbike and arguing with a girl dressed in a punk style, her back to Lancer. For where the teacher was floating, they looked fairly normal, even if their clothes were out of date by about twenty years.

"Aww, Kitty, come on!" the boy complained. "You've seen the school again. Now let's get out of here before Phantom shows."

Lancer's pointed ears perked up. _Phantom? They're afraid of Phantom? Then they _must_ be ghosts. Sounds like they used to go here too._

"I meant inside, Johnny." The girl folded her arms. "And we both know Shadow can take him, so let's go!"

"Kit-ty..." Johnny protested. "It was a fluke we even got out of the Zone. Just get back on the bike and..." Kitty whirled around and started staking towards the school. Lancer noticed that her skin was actually slightly blue as he flew to block her path and got a better look at her. He appeared about two feet in front of her and she shrieked.

"You're not getting inside," Lancer told her and her boyfriend, who'd leapt off his motorcycle to join the frightened girl. "Either of you. So forget it."

"Really?" the boy scoffed. "You and what army?"

"Me," came a slightly younger, but very angry, voice slightly to Lancer's right. "How'd you get out of the Ghost Zone, Johnny?"

"How'd you think we got out, Phantom?" Johnny shot back. "Now look, we don't want any trouble from you, honest."

"Good. That means you two have two minutes to get back to the Portal before we come after you."

"And if we don't?" Kitty asked stubbornly.

"Then it's the Thermos for the three of you." Phantom pretended to check his watch. "Your time starts now..."

Kitty dodged to the side and started running for the nearest door to the school. Phantom tackled her while Lancer waylaid Johnny, who grimaced at the other ghost's grip.

"Shadow!" he yelled.

_Who?_

Two hands closed on Lancer's ankles and he found them moving quickly towards the ground in front of Johnny. He landed hard on his back and saw Johnny standing over him laughing. Then the boy's face disappeared as he went to help Kitty and it was replaced by a nearly shapeless mass with two very pointed fangs and dreadlocks. Lancer let out a cry of fear despite himself, and then the creature (he assumed this was Shadow) launched itself at him. A moment later Lancer was back on his feet, hand and eyes blazing, and fingering a stream of ectoplasm coming from a fresh wound on his cheek.

The half-ghost sent the ray of energy from his hand at Shadow, creating a temporary hole in the creature but otherwise not fazing it. The black shape landed a vicious blow to Lancer's gut, making him stagger backwards gasping in pain. It used his distraction to send him spinning through the air.

Lancer bounced on impact and sent another ray at the thing. When it again didn't react differently, he started sending blast after blast at it in frustration, vaguely noticing that there didn't seem to be quite as fighting in the background anymore. The holes Lancer was creating simply knitted themselves together, but they were getting slightly slower at doing so. Lancer realized the creature was light sensitive, and began to prime an intense blast to send at it.

Shadow lunged at him again and Lancer drew his arm back to lob the ball of energy he'd somehow created. Just as he was about to release it, though, the ghost arched its back and get out a shriek of pain. It seemed to be tearing apart. Then suddenly a bright blue-white light appeared and Shadow began to be sucked backwards. Lancer realized it was Phantom's Thermos and hit the ground immediately. He didn't want to be trapped in that thing.

When Shadow had vanished, Lancer stood up again, slightly miffed. "I almost had him."

Phantom shook his head. "No you didn't. Ectoenergy's not strong enough to hurt him badly. You need something stronger, like this." He held up a flashlight and twirled it like a pistol.

"Anyway," Phantom continued, stopping the flashlight from spinning, "I'd better be returning this. See you around." He took off across the parking lot, vanishing from sight after about twenty feet. Lancer quickly vanished as well and flew into the first floor men's washroom, where he transformed back to human in front of the mirror. The cut Shadow had given him was already healing, and mercifully bleeding red rather than green. Lancer straightened his tie and left the washroom in the direction of his classroom, carrying on a mental monologue as he did so.

_I _did _almost have him. If I'd been able to throw that ball, I'm sure I could have done something useful. Phantom's cocky. Thinks I'm weak when I'm not. I _know_ how to use these powers. Well, apart from that ball one, which I didn't know I could do. Hmm, wonder if I've got other powers I don't know of? Something to test. Phantom didn't even say thank you. Neither did I, mind, but, argh, I almost _had himRobinson Crusoe

The detention room was empty. Danny was missing. Lancer's eyes narrowed at the boy's abandoned backpack and homework. He wasn't going to get off lightly for this.

There was the sound of pounding feet in the hallway and Lancer turned towards them. Danny was pelting down the hall, looked a little fearful. He skidded to a halt in front of the irate teacher and tried to catch his breath.

"Hey, Mr. Lancer... Er, I can explain?"

"I doubt that," Lancer said. "That'll be fifteen minutes longer for leaving without permission, and five for running in the halls." Danny opened his mouth to protest but the portly teacher grabbed his arm and forced him into the room.

"I don't want to hear it," he snapped, watched the teen stumble slightly and wince. They both resumed their seats and Lancer made sure Danny was getting back to work before returning to his novel.

About forty minutes later, Lancer glanced at his watch and announced, "You can go, Mr. Fenton."

"Thanks!" Danny looked incredibly relieved as he dumped his homework into his bag, and left. Half a minute later Lancer gasped out the plume of breath that seemed to signal a nearby ghost. He sighed, considering leaving the job for Phantom to handle alone, thought better of it, and popped his head around the door. Danny was standing a good thirty feet down the hall, his cell phone to his ear. He wouldn't notice Lancer's transformation.

_Good_, thought Lancer. "_Ghost World_." The rings encased him instantly. Lancer went invisible and stepped through the wall into the hallway. Danny had dropped his backpack to the ground, and as Lancer watched he reached straight into his locker without opening the door. Danny pulled out a slightly battered silver thermos and looked around cautiously. Seeing no one, the boy relaxed slightly but remained alert. A moment later, two blue-white rings, not unlike Lancer's, appeared at Danny's waist. As Lancer watched in shock, the ghost forgotten, the rings moved away from each other, revealing, of all people, Danny Phantom. Danny took off immediately through the opposite, and Lancer quickly followed him, mental jaw agape.

_Well, _that_ explains a lot. _

---

Lancer followed Danny to the school gymnasium, where the younger half-ghost was already zooming around two giant green octopuses and shooting ectoblasts. The octopuses were trying to grab him in their tentacles, but Danny was managing to keep one step ahead. Unfortunately, when he noticed Lancer's appearance, one of the ghosts grabbed his ankle and flung him through the air.

Danny screamed and tried to get a clear shot of the ghost's head. Lancer fired a blast at the ghost, and it let go of Danny, who yelled a hasty "Thanks!" before continuing the fight. Lancer flew closer and started firing shots as well.

"There has _got_ to be a better way to do this!" he yelled to the boy.

"Nope," Danny hollered back, ducking a tentacle, "not really! We've got to get them weak enough to suck them into the Thermos!" A second tentacle appeared almost out of nowhere and grabbed Danny's wrist, causing him to drop the Thermos. It clattered to the gym floor.

"Crud! Let _go_ of me!" At the moment, the gym doors burst open and Sam and Tucker ran in.

"Danny!"

"Thanks for coming, guys! Tucker, wanna toss up the Thermos?" Lancer blinked even as he himself was trying to evade the octopuses' arms.

_Sam and Tucker know about Danny?_

Tucker's aim was off, and the Thermos flew just out of Danny's reach to be caught by an Ectopus.

"Tuck_er_!" Danny yelled angrily, finally freeing his hand.

"Sorry!"

"Hold on," came Sam's voice. "I think I've got another in my bag." She slung her spider knapsack off her back and started rummaging in it. Danny turned to Lancer, looking a little panicked.

"We've got to get that Thermos back. Those other ghosts are still in it."

Lancer nodded and the two part-ghosts chased the Ectopuses out of the gym and into the sky high above the school. Danny made a signal for Lancer to fly left while he flew right. They both fired ectoblasts as they closed in on the ghosts, only to watch the ghosts drop the Thermos and fly away. Danny lunged for the metal cyclinder and caught it.

_Why on earth did they do that?_ thought Lancer.

"Oh, _great._" Danny had stiffened and was glaring over Lancer's shoulder. "Get behind me. Now."

As Lancer was obeying, he heard a voice that sent chills down his already cold spine. Whoever this was, they weren't a nice person.

"Why Daniel, what a surprise. I drop by Amity Park to visit my favourite little ghost and I find out he's made a friend." The speaker smirked, though Lancer, still in the process of repositioning himself, didn't notice. "Care to introduce us, Daniel?"

Lancer turned fully behind Danny and saw that the voice belonged to a ghost hovering about six feet away with his bulky arms folded across his chest. His black hair formed two horn-like spikes and his teeth were pointed like a vampire's. He wore a gray and black costume, and a white cape with red lining waving in the breeze behind him. His skin was a pale blue and his eyes glowed red.

_No_, thought Lancer,_ not a very nice person at all._

"No one you should care about, Plasmius," Danny spat.

So _this_ was Vlad Plasmius? The only ghost as elusive as Danny Phantom? The photos Lancer had found for the lecture four days ago (had it really been just four days?) didn't do his malevolence justice. And he and Danny clearly had a history. Just _what_ was his student getting up to in his spare time?

"_Au contraire_, child," sneered Plasmius, "I care about every ghost. You should know that." He smirked, challenging Danny. "Now, are you going to introduce us, or am I going to be forced to take matters into my own hands?"

Danny moved grudgingly forward until he was halfway in between the two other ghosts. He turned to face them, and Lancer noticed that he didn't look very pleased.

"This is Vlad Plasmius. Vlad, this is..." Danny trailed off and looked pleadingly at Lancer.

"Uh... Will." Why the _dickens_ hadn't he thought of a good pseudonym yet? "Will... Spirit."

"Will Spirit? Well, _Will_, I do hope young Daniel has told you only good things about me. The boy's been known to lie on occasion." Another smirk. "If you ever need something, be sure to drop by. I have more than ample resources. Oh, and Daniel, don't forget I'm watching you. Give my regards to your mother. Will, it's been a pleasure meeting you."

Plasmius vanished in a cloud of green smoke, and Lancer turned to Danny, a million questions boiling to the surface of his mind. The green-eyed boy shook his head.

"Not now. I, um, have to make sure those two kids are safe. Um, yeah. Bye!"

Danny soared back down to the school and disappeared. Lancer followed him, but thought better of pressing the boy for answers. There would be plenty of later opportunities, and he's taken up enough of Danny's Friday as it was.

By the time Lancer made it back into his office a few minutes later, Danny, Sam, and Tucker were already heading down the front steps. Lancer let himself fall against the window frame and rubbed the bridge of his nose. All this was going to call for a _lot_ of adjustment...

---

"So that's what Lancer looks like now?" Sam asked as she and her two male friends began to make their way towards the school gates.

"Yeah," Danny replied.

"Sweet!" Tucker had managed to get a digital photo of Lancer's ghost form on his PDA and was grinning madly.

"Not bad, considering what he looks like normally." Sam allowed herself a slight smirk.

"Unless you consider his stomach," Tucker pointed out, jabbing a finger at the picture. "The guy seriously needs to lose some weight."

"He fights pretty good, though, for a beginner, and he seems to want to help," Danny said, adjusting his bag. "Oh, and he introduced himself to Vlad as Will Spirit, just so you know."

"_Will Spirit?_ What sort of a name is that?" Sam asked in slight distaste.

"I think he made it up on the spot," Danny said. "Hope he doesn't regret it later."

"It's better than _Inviso-Bill_," Tucker teased, causing Danny to flare up at his old moniker.

"That wasn't my idea!"

"What was Vlad doing here, anyway?" Sam probed.

"Probably looking for Lancer," Danny groaned. "You know, 'get the new halfa on my side so I can take over the world'..."

_Review, review… You know you want to._


	5. Education

Thanks to Snickerer, Alana-StarSugarCat, Soul Eater, The Sorceress of Light, Cylon One, Coronadofwb, pieling, and Pterodactyl.

**Chapter 5: Education**

_I do not own Danny Phantom, The Old Man and the Sea, the Foundation trilogy, Ghost World, "Tiger, Tiger," "Ode on a Grecian Urn," or "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."_

That night, William Lancer had just spread the latest history and English assignments out on his kitchen table when the blue mist reappeared and the temperature dropped several degrees.

"Um, hey?"

"_Old Man and the Sea!_" Lancer spun around. Phantom was floating in the doorway, hand

held in a casual wave.

"It's okay. I'm good, remember? I just came by 'cause I maybe ran out on you a bit soon earlier and figured you might wanna talk. I've kinda been avoiding you."

Lancer looked at him hard. This was not the immature Danny he remembered from class. This Danny was calm and confident, and acting well above his age. His life as a ghost had certainly made him much more mature. Probably too mature for a fifteen-year-old boy, actually.

"Look, I wasn't expecting Plasmius to find out about you for a few more days, though in hindsight I should have seen that coming. I'm sorry. I was planning on explaining things sometime tomorrow, when we'd both, um, _recovered_. Guess we'll just have to bump it up to tonight. I..."

"_You knew who I was?_"

"Yeah. I, uh, I saw you change back after the fight with Johnny earlier. I do think you're good, by the way."

_Danny's getting much too good at lying these days_, thought Lancer.

"Thanks, but look." Lancer felt the need to clear the air of lies now. "I know your secret too. I saw you transform just before that last fight today. So you can change back if you want, Mr. _Fenton_. And I appreciate you coming by, but don't you have better things to be doing on a Friday night? And do your parents even know where you are right now?" Danny sighed and floated down into one of Lancer's kitchen chairs and changed back to human.

"This shouldn't take too long," he said. "We were in the middle of a movie-thon at Sam's, when we decided to order in Chinese. It'll be about half an hour before that shows up, so we figured I should probably come over here..."

Danny sighed again. "So, where do you want to start?"

Lancer folded his arms above his stomach. "How did you _really_ know who I was?"

"The same things that happened to you on Tuesday happened to me when I became a halfa." Danny noticed the confusion on his teacher's face. "That means 'half-a-ghost.' Do you remember how I kept dropping things and was really clumsy for a couple weeks last year?"

"Yes, that was right after your accident in your parents' lab, wasn't it?" Something clicked in Lancer's brain, and he continued, "Wait, the Portal... it happened the same way for you, didn't it? But I thought you were outside it."

"That's just what I told everyone after I'd realized what had happened," Danny admitted. "Guess you figured out how it happened to you, then."

"Not exactly. I just figured out the when."

"Okay, well, basically the shock when the Portal turned back on coated your DNA with ectoplasm, and you can choose whether or not to let the ectoplasm show openly or not."

_Okay_, thought Lancer bemused._ So my DNA's been affected. That probably means it isn't reversible. Not that I'd want it to be, come to think of it. _

Lancer spoke again. "What does this, uh, this 'Plasmius' want with you? I know he's evil, but why is he 'watching you'?" Danny fidgeted.

"Vlad's my archenemy. He's trying to take over the world with his ghost powers, or something, and wants me on his side." Danny met Lancer's deep green eyes. "He's probably going to try to get you too, so watch out. Vlad's pretty powerful and can do things even I can't."

Danny paused to let his teacher absorb the information before continuing. "Oh, yeah, and he's also a halfa. Most of time he's known as Vlad Masters, a 'friend' of my dad's. He's had a crush on Mom for years." Lancer's legs gave out at that and he fell into a chair.

Foundation Trilogy_! Plasmius is Vlad Masters, the _billionaire_? And he has designs on Maddie Fenton? That _can't_ be good._ Once he'd gotten control of his muscles again, he asked, "So, how many 'halfas' are there?"

"Four, now," answered Danny. "You, me, Vlad, and Dani. She's a clone Vlad made of me. She hasn't been around in a while, but she's on our side, so don't worry. Vlad's the only evil one."

Lancer couldn't stay still any longer. His concept of the world was just changing too rapidly. He stood up shakily and walked over to the window, where he gazed out at the street below. All those people, living without even knowing how many times this boy had saved their lives. Poor Danny, not even being credited for his heroism. Lancer sighed.

Danny needed an ally, someone he could turn to, and Lancer was probably the only person who could fill the role. Besides, Lancer wasn't about to stop fighting ghosts if it meant making life in Amity Park more peaceful and easing some of the stress off Danny, and as such he'd need a lot of coaching. He'd fought so badly with all the ghosts so far, and Phantom had made it look so _easy_. There was no point prolonging it anymore. He would just have to ask bluntly.

"Will you train me?" he asked, turning from the window suddenly to make eye contact with his student. "I want to help protect the school, and I know I'm pretty green right now."

"Sure," grinned Danny, who'd been half expecting the question anyway. "You've got talent. It probably won't be that hard. We'll have to come up with a time, though, and an alibi."

"I'd be willing to tutor you a little too," Lancer suggested, squatting down stiffly to look eye to eye with his pupil, "to make up for the time you spend with me. That would give you a pretty good alibi, too." Danny's eyes shot wide open and his grin threatened to tear his face in half.

"You'd tutor me?! Wow. Thanks. Wait till I tell Sam and Tucker. And Jazz! Want to have the first session this weekend? Sunday, maybe?"

Lancer smiled at Danny's enthusiasm. "Sounds fine. I'll phone your parents tonight and suggest the session." He shivered and saw a blue mist like his coming from Danny's mouth.

"Danny, do you want me to..."

Danny ran to the window and looked out. "Nah, I should be okay. It's just the Box Ghost. Watch if you want, but don't join in. I'll be fine. Going ghost!"

He phased through the wall, and Lancer watched him until the Thermos came out, admiring Danny's work with a careful eye. Then he sat down and started grading assignments.

---

Mr. Lancer, newly created halfa, opened his door that Sunday to let his tutor in. He was feeling incredibly eager about his first training session, and excited to see what other powers he might have. He cracked a wide grin that seemed to frighten the boy on his doorstep.

"Hello Danny. Ready to get started?" he asked. The man was practically bouncing on his heels.

"Sure," the boy replied after a moment. "I, um, thought we'd work on seeing what exactly you can do, to start out."

"All right. How do we do that?" Lancer asked curiously as he shut the door to his apartment.

Danny gave him a list. "This is everything I know ghosts can do. We'll run down the list and see. It's mostly just concentration and will power, so we'll probably figure everything out pretty fast."

Lancer scanned it quickly. "Possession? Teleportation? Duplication? Danny, you really think I can do this stuff?" He looked up at the boy, who shrugged.

"We won't know until we try."

"Should I be in ghost mode for this?" Lancer asked, sounding more serious and businesslike.

"It makes doing stuff easier," Danny answered matter-of-factly, "so probably, yeah. Especially since we're going to have to fly out to a warehouse. We're going to be doing some pretty violent stuff."

Lancer paled a little. He wasn't sure he liked the sounds of that.

"Violent to things, not people," Danny explained. That made Lancer feel a bit better. If he wasn't going to get hurt himself...

"All right, then, _Ghost World_!"

Danny smirked. _So Lancer already has a battle cry._ He started his own transformation.

A moment later the recently christened Will Spirit was floating in Lancer's kitchen looking out of place next to the checkered tablecloth and Danny was hovering beside him, trying once again to get the image of his teacher in his father's trademark jumpsuit out of his head despite have the man flying beside him.

"Okay, Mr. Lancer, you can already go invisible, right?" Lancer did. "Okay. Great. Follow me."

---

On their way to the old industrial area of Amity Park, Lancer continued asking questions, and Danny answered them honestly.

"Do your parents know about you?"

"No. They think being a halfa's impossible. And they're actively trying to kill Danny Phantom too."

Lancer let out a low whistle. _This kid really has it tough. I had no idea. _"How long has Valerie been hunting ghosts? And where did she get the equipment?"

Danny barely even showed shock that Lancer knew about Val. "She's been after me for about six months. She only goes after other ghosts if they get in the way. She got all the weapons and stuff from Vlad. And before you ask, she thinks Danny Phantom ruined her life."

"Did you?" It didn't sound like Danny to do something like that.

"No. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She doesn't believe me. Here we are!" Danny dove, and Lancer followed.

Once inside the warehouse, Danny took the list back from Lancer.

"Okay. So we already know you can do invisibility, intangibility, flying and floating, transformation, ghost sense, and ectoblasts." He checked them off with a pencil.

"Ectoblasts?"

"The rays from your hands," Danny explained. Lancer nodded.

"Anything I haven't listed?" the ghost-boy asked.

"I can form a tail with my legs," Lancer said proudly. He'd worked on that one part of last night. "And I made some sort of ball when I was fighting Shadow."

"'Kay, two more down. Anything you've seen that you want to try?"

"Whatever you did when Valerie attacked us in the cafeteria. I've tried it, but nothing happened."

"The ectoshield?"

"That sounds about right," Lancer agreed. "Who wrote 'Ode on a Grecian Urn'?"

"Am I supposed to know that?" Danny asked, surprised that Lancer was planning to do some tutoring of his own that afternoon.

"We went over it in class on Friday. Think about it."

Danny appeared to ignore him, and began explaining how to produce a shield.

"Okay, put your hands palm out in front of you. Good. Now spread them apart and concentrate on keeping some ectoplasmic energy between them." Danny demonstrated and Lancer copied his movements. He strained, but nothing happened. Danny noticed the unhappy look on Lancer's face and spoke sympathetically.

"I didn't get my powers all at once. They keep appearing over time. You'll probably get it eventually."

It surprised Lancer a little since he'd assumed halfas, or ghosts in general, didn't develop new powers after their creation, but it did cheer him up. There was still hope, then. Lancer smiled. That was a particularly useful power.

Danny thought for a moment, then handed Lancer his list again. "Here. Why don't you pick? Any order you want."

"Why don't we just test me in action?" Lancer asked, voicing an idea he'd had during the flight to the warehouse. "I was doing everything unconsciously that first day. Maybe new powers will show up if I'm not concentrating? If that doesn't work, we'll go back to the list."

"Sounds fair enough to me. I think my powers are the same. I don't realize I have them until they just show up. Okay, I'm going to toss stuff at you, then. Try to avoid it."

Danny lifted a fallen beam, and hefted it a little. Lancer's face registered amazement. _How can Danny, the kid who almost failed the Presidential Fitness Test, lift something that heavy so easily?_

Danny noticed Lancer's expression. "Ghosts naturally have greater physical strength than humans," he explained to his puzzled teacher. "Wanna try holding this?"

Lancer thought back to his childhood as a ninety-pound weakling. Then he thought back to the previous week, when he'd been forced to ask the young woman down the hall to move his couch so he could clean under it. He nodded.

"Absolutely."

Lancer took the beam from Danny. It was heavy, but not nearly as heavy as it should have been. He looked at it contemplatively, trying to take it all in. He tossed it back towards Danny, who went intangible, and it slammed against the wall with more force than he'd expected. Danny flew down and picked it up again. Before Lancer could register what he was planning, Danny threw the beam straight at him. Lancer took one look at the metal flying toward him and dove left in panic. Will Spirit dove right.

"No fair!" There was an edge of complaint in Danny's voice.

"What?" asked the two Lancers.

"I've been trying to do that for a year!"

"Do what?" asked Lancer One.

"That." Danny pointed.

Lancer turned and saw a mirror image of himself hovering a few feet away. He had to admit, from a distance, he looked a little ridiculous. The weight would be the first thing to go, in both bodies.

"You can duplicate yourself," Danny announced.

"And you can't?"

"Not yet. Vlad can do four at a time." The boy was obviously jealous.

Lancer flew over to himself. Then he drifted into the copy, and suddenly there was only one Lancer again. He shivered at the slightly unpleasant experience.

"I thought you were supposed to be one of the more powerful ghosts." _Danny's no end of mysteries, is he?_

Danny looked embarrassed. "Ghosts don't all do the same things. I can do things Vlad can't, so it goes both ways."

"Like what?" Lancer was intrigued. _Does that mean I'll have powers neither of the others do?_

"Ghostly Wail, for one. It's way too destructive to demonstrate for you, but you'll probably get to see it eventually." Danny paused. "John Keats?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, John Keats wrote 'Ode on a Grecian Urn,'" Lancer said approvingly. "How about 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard'?"

"Ummm ... Gray? Thomas Gray?"

"Good. Shall we keep sparring?" Lancer shot an ectoblast at Danny, who did a midair somersault to avoid it. As he was coming out of the roll, he sent two blasts back at Lancer. Lancer dodged right to avoid them, but wasn't quite fast enough. One of the blasts grazed his thigh and he winced. Suddenly Danny was rocketing towards him, and Lancer reflexively threw his arms in front of his face to protect it. Even as he did so, his mental voice censored his action.

_Probably not the brightest thing to do, William. That won't stop anything._

When there wasn't an impact, he peaked out from between his arms. Danny was hovering a couple feet away and there seemed to be a wall of blue ectoplasm between the two of them. Lancer raised an eyebrow in awe and amusement.

_So I can do the shield after all._ Lancer dropped his arms and relaxed. The shield disappeared. Danny pulled out his list and made another checkmark on it.

"Who wrote 'Tiger, Tiger'?" Lancer asked him.

They continued sparring for another half-hour, until Lancer was too tired to do little more than fly. They hadn't discovered any new powers since the ectoshield, but Lancer had noticed more than before that his ghost half wasn't constrained by the physical problems his aging human body was. He was much more flexible and agile, he had more stamina, and his reflexes had improved dramatically as well. That, and he was a lot better at fighting than he'd ever thought he could be. Lancer had also realized that Danny was able to remember everything that had been covered in class, even though it may take him a while to do so. He was a bright kid, and it really was too bad being a superhero got in the way of his studies.

As Lancer and Danny flew slowly back to his apartment, Danny explained a number of his parents' inventions to Lancer, to get him up to speed on the sort of threat his parents posed to him and the rest of the ghost community. Lancer thought a few of them were silly and useless (like the Ghost Gabber), but agreed with Danny that others, like the Xtractor or the Peeler, could really be dangerous, especially to a halfa.

Once they had safely landed in Lancer's kitchen and changed back to human, Danny rummaged around in his knapsack and pulled out a Fenton Thermos.

"Thought you might want a weapon. Here." He handed the device to Lancer. "You take the cap off and press this button. The ghost will get sucked in, and it will stay there until you release it. It's gotta be pretty weak to be sucked in though, so you'll have to fight a bit first."

"Danny," Lancer began, in protest. "This is stolen property. I can't accept it."

"It's not, actually. Mom and Dad gave me a Thermos of my own a while ago, because of all the attacks at school. That's it. The one _I_ use is 'stolen,' because they think a ghost took it. So, here. You'll need it." Danny pushed the Thermos into Lancer's hands.

"Thanks, then, and thanks for your help today too."

"No problem. Just stay away from my parents and don't go up against anything you can't handle unless you have no choice." Danny tossed his bag over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow, then."

"You too. And keep going over those poets. You're pretty good at English if you try."

Lancer shut the door behind Danny and took a book off the bookshelf next to it. He lay down on the couch, and didn't wake up until the morning.


	6. Alliance

I've had an absolutely amazing response to the story so far, and especially on the last chapter. Wow. Thanks to everyone who read it, and most importantly to Snickerer, Pieling, ShiroAndFubuki, jalison, Cyllwen, YumeTakato, ghostgirl14027, and Coronadofwb. Everyone else, if you want to see your name up here, review!

**Chapter 6: Alliance**

_I don't own Danny Phantom_.

"Good morning, citizens of Amity Park! This is Tiffany Snow for Amity News. Another ghost attack was prevented last night by ghost boy and recently turned hero Danny Phantom and Will Spirit, a new ghost on the scene in Amity Park. The ghost had attacked City Hall and it is believed it was attempting to possess the mayor. Town ghost hunters Jack and Maddie Fenton arrived on the scene just as the battle finished." The camera zoomed in on the still photograph at the top right of the screen.

"Shivering spectres, Maddie, we missed them again." A large man in an orange jumpsuit let his ectogun drop to his side, while his blue-hooded wife turned the camera and smiled.

"Don't worry, people of Amity Park, we will catch the ghost that did this. And Phantom, if you're out there, we want to talk to you."

The screen flickered back to the news anchor. "And now, exclusive footage of the battle and the rescue of our beloved mayor!"

The television cut to an aerial view of the town square. People were standing well back from the city hall, but clearly enjoying the fight taking place overhead.

William Lancer grunted and switched off the set. No point watching any further when he'd been there fighting, after all. He stood up from his recliner and stretched, then winced. He'd forgotten about the gash in his side from when the ghost had thrown a shuriken and he hadn't dodged in time. Ah, well, it was probably time for fresh bandages anyway.

Lancer walked into his bathroom and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror of the medicine cabinet as he opened it. He was pale and haggard, with dark circles under his eyes. He knew he wasn't getting nearly as much sleep as he should have been. How Danny managed it, he would never know.

It had now been three months since he had gotten his ghost powers and started working with Danny to save their city from being overrun by ghosts. Hardly a day went by when there wasn't an attack to prevent, and he and Danny often fought side-by-side. Of course, Sam and Tucker were usually in the thick of things as well, though he tried not to get them involved more than necessary. Watching Danny lose his social life was bad enough, let alone two other teens...

After the first session with Danny, Sam and Tucker had joined his training sessions and Lancer had improved immensely, especially when he remembered to stop thinking about the limitations his human body would have.

They had discovered several other powers in those sessions. The speeds he could reach while flying paralleled his other paranormal abilities, in that they were far above normal, almost to the extreme. He could possess people, though preferred not to because it made him uncomfortable morally. He had also developed the ability to create portals to the Ghost Zone (and back the human world), and could produce a form of ghost breath that slowed down any being or object it touched for five minutes. That last power had proved useful countless times over the last few months, as he had battled Ember, Technus, Skulker, Walker, Plasmius, the Lunch Lady, the Box Ghost, Desiree, and many others who didn't appear often or seem to have names.

All the fighting, training, and sleepless nights had had positive effects on Lancer too. He was more confident and resourceful, of course, and his ghost half had lost almost all its extra weight. His belly was beginning to diminish in his human self as well, because he'd been getting more exercise and eating less because he kept missing meals to fight ghosts. He was even developing a little muscle tone. Lancer was feeling healthier and happier overall too, even though he was constantly wounded. No, being a halfa really wasn't that bad. It was a life, anyway.

Lancer was grateful to Danny for his support and help, but had felt that simply tutoring the boy in English and history was not enough. As a result, two months ago he had slowly begun working in his position as teacher and vice principal of Casper High to improve Phantom's reputation. Several weeks ago, people had finally begun to understand that Danny was working to _protect_ them rather than harm them. Of course, Spirit had then acquired the reputation of "sidekick," but that was only to be expected.

Since Danny's reputation had become one of "superhero," his parents had stopped hunting him, and were now trying to get near enough to him to apologize and form an alliance. Danny always left before they could talk to him. He was understandably still nervous and shy around them, doubting that they'd be so kind and understanding if they discovered that Phantom was their son. Lancer believed that telling the Fentons wouldn't have any major negative consequences for Danny. Will Spirit, on the other hand, tried to stay out of the way for much the same reasons as Phantom did. Lancer needed his job, and the discovery of his halfa status would prevent him from keeping it, regardless of his reputation.

Lancer stopped his reflections to cut the final piece of adhesive tape holding the gauze to his side. He changed from his pajamas into the clothes he wore to school, and had just begun preparing breakfast when his ghost sense went off.

"Beware! I am the Box Ghost!"

Lancer rolled his eyes and fired an ectoblast over his shoulder straight at where he imagined the ghost to be. It found its mark, and the Box Ghost phased back through the wall the way he had come. Lancer chuckled. The ghost would have an easier time terrorizing him if he didn't always come from the janitor's closet beside Lancer's apartment.

---

"Danny, dear, you're going to be late for school," Maddie Fenton called as she knocked on her son's bedroom door. Her son rolled over and buried his head in his pillow, trying to catch a few more minutes of sleep.

"If you get up now," his mother continued, "Jazz will drive you and you'll make it on time."

Danny groaned. _If Jazz wants to drive me, it's probably something important._

"All right, all right," he mumbled as he hauled himself to the edge of the bed. "I'm up."

Danny pulled on his clothes and headed downstairs. He actually had time for breakfast this morning, a rare thing these days even with Lancer helping out. Several minutes later, he was in his sister's car and on his way to school.

"So, what's up?" he asked casually. He'd better find out what Jazz wanted right from the start. _Hope she's not in one of her overprotective phases_, he thought slightly moodily.

"Well, I just thought we hadn't talked much in the last little while and that we had some catching up to do." Jazz smiled at her brother, looking perkier than normal.

_That's always a bad sign. I hate when she thinks that_, thought Danny. "No, Jazz, really," he protested. "You wouldn't be driving me to school if you didn't have something important to say to me."

"I'm really proud of you," Jazz said, beaming over at Danny again. "I think it's great that people are finally recognizing you, well, the Phantom you, for what you do. That must be doing wonders for your self-image."

"Yeah, it's really great." Danny tried not to convey emotion. He still wasn't sure where Jazz was going with this.

"How's your friend? Will Spirit, right?"

_Bingo_, thought Danny. He stared out the passenger window. "He's great. I'll let him know you're concerned." In his head he's started a mantra: _No emotion, no emotion_._ Keep calm._

"He's a halfa too, isn't he?" Jazz asked abruptly. Danny whipped his head around to face her again.

"What?!" Danny shouted while his inner voice muttered, _Bad move, Danny._

"Don't act so surprised," Jazz answered smugly. "He's nearly as elusive as you are."

"Nearly?" The voice was panicking now. _Does this mean someone's found out? That Jazz has found out?_

"Anyone with half a brain could figure out who he really is."

_And thank goodness almost no one in Amity Park has half a brain._ Danny looked accusingly at his sister, daring her."Really? Who is he then?"

"Mr. Lancer."

"Mr. Lancer." Danny tried to sound doubtful, hoping to throw his sister off the scent. Jazz sighed in exasperation.

"Yes, _Mr. Lancer._ Danny Fenton starts being 'tutored' by Lancer a couple days after Lancer has an accident near the Portal. A new ghost appears a couple days later and starts fighting alongside Danny Phantom. Lancer keeps running off and Will Spirit is never in the same room as he is, just like Fenton and Phantom. You really expected me not to see the coincidences?" Jazz glanced at Danny. His body language meant she was right. "At least your grades have gone up. He's not suddenly playing favourites, is he? I'd hate to think you were getting better grades out of pity or something."

"You're beginning to sound like Mom," Danny said angrily.

"Sorry. I'll stop." Jazz was well aware how annoying their mother could be at times, not accepting that her children were growing up.

"He actually _is_ tutoring me though," Danny said, to keep his sister from worrying more, "in return for my training him."

"_Me_ training him," Jazz corrected automatically, keeping her eyes on the road.

"Whatever."

They were a couple blocks from school. Jazz pulled over so that Danny wouldn't have the humiliation of being seen with her. She leaned on her steering wheel to face her brother.

"It's been nice chatting, Danny. Don't tell him, okay? Only if he needs to know?" _He's got enough to deal with. He won't need me getting involved._

"Okay." Danny opened the door and stepped out. "See you later, Jazz."

"Be careful, please, Danny?" Jazz asked, leaning towards the passenger seat.

"Aren't I always?"

His scanning eyes found Sam and Tucker. He waved and walked over to them. Jazz leaned over further and closed his door for him. She smiled as she pulled away from the curb. Danny probably couldn't have found a much better ally than the fussy teacher. The man had a good heart, even if it didn't always show, and he was brave in his own way. Jazz had had the opportunity to see a few of his fights too, and had to admit that he was quite good for someone of his background.

---

_Well_, thought Danny, as he crossed the schoolyard to reach his friends, _so Jazz knows. At least I know we can trust her not to blab. _

Before he could share the information about Jazz with Sam and Tucker, though, the warning bell rang and everyone pelted into the building.


	7. Abduction

_Thanks to Coronadofwb, Alana-StarSugarCat, Snickerer, and Pterodactyl._

**Chapter 7: Abduction**

_I don't own Danny Phantom because I'm a starving student. I don't own Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because it was written before I was born. I don't own Ghost World, for an as yet unexplained reason. I don't own any sonnets from the 1800s. I don't own the rights to FOTR or A Wrinkle in Time either, though the strange and unusual things I could do with the former would make life a lot more fun._

Early one Sunday morning, in a modest apartment in Amity Park, a middle-aged man tossed and turned in his bed. He was dreaming, again, of the green-haired man kidnapping one of the classes he taught at the high school. He had dreamt this dream almost every week for three months. It was getting worse.

"_Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_!" Lancer sat bolt upright in his bed. This time, the man, who he now knew to be the hunter ghost Skulker, had shackled him and his class together with anti-ectoplasm bonds and was leading them into a tent that held a large number of expectant ghosts. Might have been some sort of auction, Lancer wasn't sure. He lay back down and had almost gotten to sleep again when his ghost sense went off. He sighed and sat up again, giving his transformation cry.

"_Ghost World_!"

He was outside half a minute later.

---

The following Monday, Lancer was in his classroom, as usual, trying to get Danny's class to understand the nuances of the nineteenth century sonnet. Most of the students were staring at him with glazed expressions. Danny, as usual, was sleeping. Lancer started walking between the rows of desks as he talked. When he was beside Danny's, he kicked it.

Danny lifted his head off the desk sleepily and stared at Lancer through half-lidded eyes. "Wha?"

"I suggest you reserve your nap time for other classes, Mr. Fenton," Lancer told the boy drily, "Sonnets are difficult to understand, and I don't have to remind you that you need all the help you can get."

Lancer didn't feel quite right about being mean to Danny now that he knew the reasons behind his misbehaviour. Unfortunately, he had to keep up the appearance of discipline and animosity towards the boy, so that no one would suspect the relationship that had developed between them. The tutoring sessions and battle alliance weren't exactly public knowledge, after all. Still, Danny _did_ need constant reminders and awakenings, and that eased Lancer's guilt a little.

Suddenly both he and Danny felt the drop in temperature that was associated with a ghost. Before either could leave the room, a glowing green net dropped through the ceiling, trapping the entire class.

"_Fellowship of the Ring_!" Lancer yelled in surprise as the net tangled up around everyone's shoulders. Amidst all the shrieks and struggling, he noticed that Skulker was floating above them. Glaring up at him with angry blue eyes, Lancer yelled, "What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like, mutt?" Skulker pressed a button on his armour that hadn't been there the last time Lancer had fought him, and the edges of the net moved towards each other until everyone was caught in a jumble of limbs. There was no way to "go ghost" there without being noticed.

Skulker grabbed the net and flew it through the wall. They swept over the town and eventually descended over FentonWorks and through the Portal. Even though Lancer had been in the Ghost Zone on many occasions, chasing a ghost or practicing portal forming power, it still amazed him how surreal and otherworldly the whole place looked, with its limited colours and unnerving floating doors. This time was no different, and Lancer shivered involuntarily before moving on to the calm planning stage of the standard kidnapping routine.

Why was Skulker doing this to the whole class? Before then, he had only kidnapped one or two people, usually him or Danny, and stuck them on his island. They had always escaped then, but it was going to be harder to get thirty people out of the Zone before Skulker noticed.

_No_, Lancer corrected himself. _All we need is a big enough portal_. He'd never made one large enough for more than one person at a time, however, so they might still be out of luck. Lancer went back to his original question: _why?_ You couldn't defeat someone unless you knew what you were getting into, and what their motive was.

They were descending over Skulker's island now, and his class, who had been almost paralyzed with fear, started to become agitated again. Lancer spoke reassuringly from the center of the mass of students, trying to calm then down.

"Don't worry, everyone. I'm sure Danny Phantom will save us." _If he manages to get away from the crowd. Or if I do._

"How will he know where we are?" With a lilt like that, it could only have been Paulina speaking.

"How does he _ever_ know?" That sarcastic voice sounded like Sam's, but he couldn't tell where she was.

The net opened abruptly then and everyone tumbled out, with exclamations of pain, shock, and fear. Skulker quickly went round and slapped blue rings on everyone's hands and feet as they lay dazed on the ground. As soon as everyone had been shackled, ectoplasmic chains shot out and attached everyone to their neighbours. Most of the class screamed in alarm. Lancer felt his stomach drop.

_This is beginning to look very familiar_.

Skulker flew off without even an explanation, and left his captives to start frantically whispering. Lancer looked to see who he was next to, and trying to get his bearings.

_Danny and Tucker. That's fortunate_. And Danny was obviously assessing the situation. _Also a good sign._

They were in a clearing in the ghostly jungle, and tied together too tightly for either halfa to get hidden enough to transform. Lancer was willing to bet that their bonds would prevent transformation anyway, and that he wouldn't be able to phase through them, since he'd tried both things many times in his recurring nightmare. Besides, testing the theory could very well cause suspicion. So the conventional routes were out. Lancer realized with dismay what the only solution was.

_We're just going to have to get Skulker to take the chains off_.

When Skulker returned, he finally spoke to them, sounding like he was reciting a hastily memorized script. The effect was aided by a piece of paper poking out of a robotic fist.

"I am pleased to announce that you have been chosen as the guin-, the pioneers in a human-ghost alliance. You will be paired with ghosts and will work with them in harmony. I am now going to take you to them. Follow me."

_That sounds too simple to be true, and a little out of character as well_, thought Lancer. _I bet he's been put up to this._

"Excuse me, sir, but why are we wearing these cuffs?" asked Sam innocently. "I mean, this sounds like a peaceful alliance you're trying to get started. Don't you think you're getting off on the wrong foot by kidnapping us and tying us up?" Lancer allowed himself a small smile. She had obviously figured out what needed to happen too.

"The shackles are for your own protection," Skulker said flatly.

_Yeah right_, thought both Lancer and Danny. _There are _so_ many ways that's a lie._ Skulker led them down a path lined with fanged flowers and into a larger clearing containing a tent.

_Oh dear_, Lancer thought in alarm. _This _is_ my dream. We've never escaped in my dream._

Danny, walking in front of Lancer, felt him stiffen. He looked back towards the teacher and raised his eyebrows. Well, telling Danny wouldn't hurt, and he did have a right to know. Lancer bent slightly and whispered.

"I've had nightmares about this. We didn't escape."

"We'll get out of this somehow," Danny said tensely. "Don't worry."

Lancer straightened up again and focused on the tent door to steady his nerves. _Danny's right. Don't lose your head, William._

They were led into the tent where a lot of ghosts were sitting in a _lot_ of chairs. They were all expectantly watching the stage that the captives were on. Lancer peered past the lights, trying to recognize faces.

_Technus, Desiree, Klemper, Box Ghost, Ember, Spectra... _Wrinkle in Time_! Every humanoid ghost I've ever fought is here, except for ... yes, _thought Lancer unhappily, _Vlad Plasmius is here too. What are the chances he's the mastermind behind all this? We know Skulker works for him sometimes._

A ghost Lancer hadn't seen before came in from the opposite side of the tent at that moment and walked up to a podium placed at the bottom left of the stage. He had tousled black hair and wore a long coat that reminded Lancer a little of the Romantic poets. A blue-grey scarf was draped around his neck, and a pair of ovoid spectacles completed the look of an educated man. The ghost tapped the microphone and then began to speak.


	8. Challenge

_Thanks to Coronadofwb, Selyne, Celestial Maiden Sukira, Evil Long Penname Having Individual End, and Cyllwen._

**Chapter 8: Challenge**

_I don't own DP, though I would like to own the Ghost Writer, because he's awesome (and strangely attractive). I don't own Dune, Ghost World, As You Like It, especially Act 2, Scene 3, or Dealing With Dragons._

"As you know since you're here/," the Ghost Writer began, "Skulker's provided these dear/ Little children for use in our quest/ For life. At his behest/ Our hunter friend, being no fool,/ Desires no coin, merely a tool/ For his armoury. And so we begin/ With this fine specimen/ Of a strapping young lad./ Quite a prize to be had." The Ghost Writer pulled the end of the chains that linked the human captives to each other and Kwan was dragged forward, trying to look brave. The argument over who got him began and Lancer started thinking furiously.

Dune_! We _are_ going to be auctioned off. That means that my students are going to be scattered all over the tent. Well, at least the auctioneer is a ghost after my own heart, although he seems to insist on rhyming. Doesn't he know there are other types of poems? Right, so Danny is twelfth in line, meaning he has time to come up with a plan too. And I'm thirteenth, an unlucky number, but probably good here. If Danny fails, I'll still have time to enact a plan of my own. Hopefully._

Kwan had been finally sold to the Fright Knight. Next up was Paulina, who was trying to flirt with the more attractive ghosts in the audience. If Danny Phantom wasn't there, she was dead set on getting the next cutest thing. She didn't look all that pleased when she was bought by Kitty, who looked as if she'd always wanted someone to girltalk with.

As the students were slowly being paired off and Skulker was accumulating some pretty nasty looking weapons that Lancer wished he wouldn't have to go up against, Danny was planning like mad too.

_Okay, so Vlad's definitely going to buy me, which means that I'll have a hard time getting free. He's smart enough not to release the bonds. Tucker and Sam are both behind Lancer, so unless Lancer and I can free them while we're fighting, they won't be able to help. Lancer's also behind me, but there's a chance that if I stay silent until someone buys him, he'll get his cuffs opened. I'll need Lancer free to go ghost and open up a portal for the escape. That means there'll need to be enough commotion for him to transform. Or some sort of distraction, maybe. _

"And now we have a spotty young man/ With bright or- red hair and not much of a tan."

The Ghost Writer pulled geeky Nathan forward, and the only ghost desperate enough to bid was Klemper, the giant blonde ghost who everyone avoided. He sat Nathan down beside him and put a huge arm around him. Then Poindexter bought Mikey and Johnny 13 bought Dash. Then it was Danny's turn.

"Who have we here?" the Ghost Writer asked, "Danny Fenton?/ I say! Now who has the bent and/ Skill to handle the child?/ I needn't mention, he can be wild."

As Danny had predicted, Vlad bought him without even a challenge. It hit home to Lancer just how feared Plasmius was in the Ghost Zone. Every ghost in this tent would have loved to get their hands on Danny this way, but none of them so much as moved when Vlad put the initial bid forward.

Danny shot Lancer a furtive glance and muttered, "I'll wait for you," as Vlad led him off. Lancer watched as Danny allowed himself to be taken to the far side of the tent and stood passively beside a gloating Vlad.

The chain was pulled once more and Lancer was brutally dragged forward onto his knees beside the podium. The ghostly auctioneer didn't look like a bad guy or even a very powerful ghost. Lancer probably had a chance with him.

The English teacher started speaking dramatically. "O, good old man, how well in thee appears/ The constant service of the antique world,/ When service sweat for duty, not for meed!/ Thou art not for the fashion of these times,/ Where none will sweat but for promotion."

The ghost paused and stared at him. "Shakespeare?"

"I am but a humble teacher, good sir, and desire only to instill in youth a love of poetry. Spare me, please, I beg you." Lancer could tell that he'd gotten the ghost's interest and mentally congratulated himself on his acting.

The Ghost Writer looked over at Skulker. "A story I shall write/ Of a glorious fight/ And you will win it/ At the very last minute." He seemed to be bidding for Lancer himself. Skulker thought a moment, then nodded.

The ghostly poet helped Lancer to his feet and released him. Lancer massaged his wrists, trying to get some feeling back into them. He moved over to the side of the tent, looking submissive and worried as he felt he was expected to. He stood there until Tucker had become the centre of attention, then silently slipped outside and muttered, "_Ghost World_," as quietly as possible. Transformation complete, Lancer flew to the back of the tent, where Vlad was floating with Danny. Peaking through a tear in the tent, he saw commotion on the stage. Someone had already noticed his absence, and his "owner" was somehow managing to look angry and pleased at the same time.

Lancer quickly entered the rear of the tent and grabbed Danny. Vlad caught his movements and spun around, raising a fist to strike Lancer, but Danny hit him in the chest before the fist made contact. Lancer pulled Danny outside the tent and pressed the button on the cuffs that opened them, allowing Danny to go ghost immediately.

The rear flap of the tent was blown open and a wall of rather angry ghosts began approaching them. Danny gritted his teeth and tensed, preparing for what was likely the most challenging fight he'd ever faced.

"I'll handle these guys, Spirit. Go free the class."

"Danny ..."

"I mean it." Danny glared at Lancer with bright green eyes. "I'm still a better fighter than you are."

Lancer gave in and flew over the tent to the flap he'd first exited from. Once inside, he gasped.

Dealing With Dragons_! Someone's already freeing people!_

A blue woman in a medieval gown was moving down the line of chained students undoing the cuffs. She looked up and noticed him.

"Get the ones down there," she ordered, pointing to the students who had already been bought. Lancer didn't even take the time to nod before jumping off the stage and starting to undo shackles. The teenagers stared at him in amazement. _No one_ had seen Will Spirit up close before. He always kept himself at a distance during public appearances.

Up on the stage, the girl had finally freed Sam, who rubbed her wrists ruefully and looked at her liberator. "Took you long enough, Dora."

Sam turned to the rest of the group in the tent. "Okay, everyone, grab a weapon from that pile and follow me. You," she said, pointing at Mikey and Nathan, "start collecting cuffs. We've got to help Phantom!"

All that remained now was to fight the ghosts, some of whom had turned around and were heading back into the tent after Lancer. The halfa flew in front of them and blew out his ghost breath. Time seemed to slow down for the ghosts before him. Lancer grabbed a handful of cuffs from Nathan and so did Tucker. The two of them ran among the slow-motion ghosts, putting the cuffs on them as they went. Once they were done, Lancer flew out to where the rest of the class was attacking the ghosts attacking Danny. Tucker busied himself with his PDA, and suddenly the ghost Technus found himself attacking ghosts who _weren't_ Danny.

"Sweet!" Tucker punched the air. "Technus still hasn't gotten rid of that virus we gave him last week!"

"All humans duck and cover. Now!" Sam had caught sight of Danny apparently holding his breath. She elbowed Lancer, who was floating beside her. "Get a portal going. Inside."

A ferocious moan started in the center of the ghosts. Lancer managed to make it a few feet for the Wail hit full force and he felt like he was being ripped apart. Many of the ghosts were already unconscious. Lancer ran inside the already heaving tent and tried to summon a portal big enough for the class as ghostly vegetation and various odds and ends whipped by him, throwing off his concentration. Then the Wail died down and stopped, and Lancer was able to generate a small, one-person portal just as his students ran inside. A glance outside told him that they'd cuffed as many ghosts as possible. Including Vlad. _Impressive._

"Quick, everyone, through here, one at a time." Lancer gestured urgently for his class to come over to him. They hesitated, not sure whether they could really trust him despite his reputation.

"He's friends with Phantom, remember!" Sam shouted at them. "It's safe!"

"But what if it isn't?" Dash was eyeing the portal with suspicion. Sam grabbed Paulina and pushed her through the swirl green circle.

"See? Safe!"

Then all the ghosts that Lancer had slowed down sped up again, and the rest of the class tried to squeeze through the portal at once. Lancer shot another blast of ghost breath at the advancing monsters, then reverted to human while his class was preoccupied.

The older halfa realized he hadn't seen Danny since the Wail ended. He looked around and saw Tucker half carrying, half dragging a limp Danny towards the portal as fast as he could. Lancer ran over and slung Danny's arm over his shoulder.

"Hurry. We don't have much time. The portal ..." The portal vanished. "... is going to lose stability soon." Lancer strained himself and managed to get another portal going just long enough for the three of them to get through.

They were on the football field of Casper High. The football team (minus Dash and Kwan, of course) were suited up and staring at them. As the coach was running towards them, Lancer collapsed from exhaustion.

---

Lancer woke up later that night in a hospital bed, feeling stiff and sore, but otherwise all right. After an initial moment of panic, he realized that his secret couldn't have been discovered because there was a distinct lack of tubes and people around him. He thought back to the events of the day, trying to establish them in his mind.

He had saved his class, with his own powers. Danny had been in the supporting role. His dream hadn't come true, and it was because of him, William Lancer!

_I'm a hero. In my own right. I'm not hanging off Danny's reputation anymore. I'm a hero_.

Not that he'd ever minded being a sidekick, of course, but it was nice to have the spotlight every once and a while.

_Of course,_ Lancer continued in his mind,_ this also means that I'm going be a lot more in the public eye from now on. I'll have to be on my toes more. Especially since I've probably made a lot more enemies in the last twelve hours._ He sighed, just as a nurse came by.

"Oh, good, you're awake. I'll tell your class." She smiled brightly. "I envy you, getting to see Spirit up close like that."

"How long have I been out?" Lancer asked, trying to sound curious instead of slightly panicked.

"Four hours," she answered sympathetically. "Whatever happened in the Ghost Zone must have drained you pretty bad." She smiled again and bustled off. Lancer smiled again, propped himself up on the bed, and waited for his students to arrive.

_I'm a hero._

**The End**


End file.
